CONVERSATION WITH THE OCCASION - Ivica Tucak
One month since we sent 22 candidates for the Olympic Games to Kranj (June 9) for basic preparations, we received not only outlines, but the exact lineup with which Croatia will compete from July 28 to August 11 in fight for a new Olympic medal. Such is clearly the hope, desire and goal.
Croatian water polo players have so far won 1 gold (London 2012) and 2 silver (Atlanta 1996 and Rio de Janeiro 2016) in the 5-round competition. We will find out what Paris will bring us soon, but what is known since last Sunday is the list of the 13 best Croatians in this sport. More than enough reason for a brief conversation with coach Ivica Tuck.
Tough decision
At the start I have to say that this is the hardest part for me. Selection of players for a big competition, the moment when I have to tell some people that after all the great efforts, everything they endured and what we went through together in the hard preparations, that they must stay at home - quite honestly and emotionally the selector Tucak.
These are horrible moments for me because they are all a part of me, I am a part of them, we live together. It's not easy. That's how I see it, and it's not easy. The Olympic Games is the dream of every athlete, but there is only room for 13. It was terribly difficult for me all Saturday because I made my decision then and told the boys in the evening. I was like that all day... And I still am, and it will take me a day or two. Maybe I'm experiencing it too emotionally because it's part of the job, but then again, I can't help myself.
The thirteen 'Parisians' are known, but it is worth mentioning five players from the list of players who played in the Sardinia Cup, but who did not find a place on the flight to Paris. Simply, because there are only 13 places. Center Ivan Krapić, goalkeeper Mate Anić, and outfield players Franko Lazić, Filip Kržić and Zvonimir Butić will not go to the Olympic Games. All but one deserve special words, although one of them is in special treatment in this regard.
Ivan Krapić, captain of Barakud for the last three years. By not being included in the list for Paris, Krapić also ended a brilliant representative career in which two world golds (Budapest 2017 and Doha 2024) and one European gold (Split 2022) shine the brightest.
The representative area of Ivan Krapić
Unfortunately, that is the end of the representative career of a great player. Hereby, on behalf of the staff, but also on my own behalf, I sincerely send him a big, big thank you for everything he gave to the Croatian national team and to me personally. He was my right hand, he showed the greatness of a grandiose athlete and a man above all.
Could you tell us a little more about the selected 13, were there any doubts?
There were clearly some doubts, but they are mine, ours and will remain so. All 18 players were in the 'game' until the last day. I decided on these 13 and I think it is the most optimal. I repeat, if anyone else from those who dropped out ended up 'inside', nothing would have changed that because everyone really gave their best. Of course, they will all be part of the national team tomorrow, competing for all competitions. After all, it is about young players.
'The cream of the cream'
What accompanied these preparations of the Croatian national team, and we certainly hope that they will remain valid until they leave for France, is the fact that, unlike almost all previous preparatory actions, you had no problems with injured players. In other words, you had the "cream of the cream" of Croatian water polo together all the time. Admittedly, that probably made the final selection difficult.
Exactly what I was saying. There were no problems, and then it was all the more difficult for me to choose. Literally until the last day, after the match with the Greeks (2nd round of the Sardinia Cup), I weighed myself. Even then, here I will give a concrete example of only young Lazić. He played fantastic against the Greeks. Well, not only him. All. I don't have a single complaint against anyone, only praise and compliments.
In essence, it seems to us that after the publication of the final Olympic list, no one has anything to complain about. This is the best 13, and if someone theoretically imagined that someone else should have been on the passenger list, an even more difficult question would arise - who from the selector's list did not deserve a place at the Games.
No, no complaints, I mean we are limited with only 13 players. Everyone who was there for the preparations was rightfully there. In millimeters. In my opinion, this is actually the value of Croatian water polo, for what we create tomorrow, because not everything will end with Paris. We have a bright future and that's what I think is good.
About the Sardinia Cup...
Your selection of players for the Olympic Games somewhat put the Sardinia Cup game on the back burner, which we didn't even get to comment on until now. Are you satisfied with what you saw and played?
Defensively it was quite nice. Offensively, we are still a bit 'heavy', but that is also logical for this part of the preparations. Reactions to the won ball, speed in the flow of the ball, movement are still missing, but all this is normal for now. Like us, it's probably the same for other national teams at the moment. I repeat, our defense was good, and now we will do the rest of the preparations and make a detailed analysis of the tournament in Sardinia. Next is work on tactical matters in order to welcome the start of the Olympic Games as soon as possible and as ready as possible.
In these preparations, Croatia will not play a lot of games in total, but they are all against very strong opponents. The elite itself, from Hungary in Zagreb, through Spain, Greece and Italy, now in Sardinia, and there are still Americans in Šibenik.
That's what we specifically wanted. I wanted a small number of matches, but with the best possible opponents. We were offered some national teams for sparring, so I won't list them now, but we didn't need that. I don't think we needed a large number of games because the players had a very large number of games throughout the season, both through the clubs and in the national team. According to me, we got a nice picture that we still have to do. Now comes the analysis of what has been done so far, correction, continuation of some things that were very good. Let's say against Italy with one more player, but also one less player. Now we will go into details, we have not done that before. Until now, we have worked on physical preparation and that our game has head and tail, and now we will insist on details, details, analyses, conversations... As always in situations like this.
The menu particularly emphasized one detail from the tournament in Sardinia.
What we are looking for and what we succeeded in, especially against Italy, when we scored 2 or 3 goals at the very end of the attack. Literally at the last second, and that's what makes me so happy, and we will continue to do so.
Barracudas are currently on a well-deserved vacation, and the next gathering is scheduled in Šibenik.
We gather there on Wednesday, July 10. We will work alone until July 17, and then the Americans will come to us, with whom we have an arranged preparatory public match, on July 19 in Crnica- said coach Ivica Tucak.
Finally, just a small addition from history or something called "fun facts" in English. Croatia will play its first match at the Games in Paris exactly on the 28th anniversary of our first Olympic final in Atlanta. That final, Croatia - Spain, was played on July 28, 1996
